2-3 Day Big Sur Road Trip To Take With Your Girlfriends, Family, Or Lover!

There’s a saying out there floating around beautiful quote boards all over Pinterest that read, “Nature: Cheaper Than Therapy.” And holy shiz is that an ultimate truth. Being out in nature gives rest to the soul, creates memories with people you love, and springs inspiration and deep thinking for the mind. Look, not to get mushy but I LOVE SPENDING TIME IN NATURE.

Camping, glamping, hiking, picnics, road trips, sitting along a river drinking a beer, you name it– nature is a productive form of escapism.

So if you live in the Bay Area- I urge you to get your butts to BIG SUR. (Irregardless of location, I urge anyone to get to Big Sur, really… if they can.)

Big Sur has it all: Far away from everything but not too too far. IT’S BEAUTIFUL. There’s places to eat. Places to drink. Places to hike. Camp. Glamp. Places to sit along a river, places to sit along the sea. It’s truly a magnificent place.

And a trip there with your GIRLFRIENDS? The freaking BEST. Almost no cell phone service- making it a commitment to really BE in the moment. Something we all could use these days, no?

Here’s the EXACT trip I took with my girlfriends. The whole trip was really affordable and can totally be tweaked to be more or less costly. All together this trip (gas, where we stayed, food, supplies, etc- cost me about $150-$200 but easily could have been less if we really wanted it to be.

If you want a little BIG SUR Itinerary complete with fun things to do- here’s what we did.

First, we loaded up five girls to an SUV. We were packed to the damn BRIM.

All the San Francisco girls carpooled to the San Jose girls, and we left from there.

First thing we did, was stop at Trader Joes in Monterey (close to Big Sur) to get food. We all just got a ton of shit and split it. And figured one or two meals we would eat out (in a span of two days.)

There are multiple places along the coast to pull over in Big Sur. You’re going to want to factor in a good half hour to an hour for this.

One stop you are definitely going to want to make is BIXBY BRIDGE. Iconic. Do you know how many car commercials have been filmed there? Damn near 100 I would guess. It’s beautiful. You’ll want a few pictures.

Then we drove to our campsite for the weekend. We chose FERNWOOD. Fernwood is awesome because they offer cabins, camp sites, and also tents with bunk beds and hard flooring installed! It’s GORGEOUS. Lush green trees everywhere. A river running through it. Even a fun bar and restaurant to go to. We rented a cabin one night because it was pouring, and the next we camped along the river.

Okay so let’s first talk about our cabin. CUTE AS HECK. No frills, overly picturesque decorations… just the nitty gritty of what you need for a comfortable stay! We comfortably fit five girls. There’s a little room with a queen size bed in back, two bunk beds along the side of the hallway, and a comfy couch out near the kitchen. One bathroom. Nature all around… it’s awesome.

This is the time to bust out food, card games, drinks…. girl time to the max!

We even had a beauty night… did sheet masks and then finished with Apricot oil (my new obsession.) The girls LOVE the Apricot oil! This is the best for anytime but camping I love it because one, you don’t need water. Two, it’s cleansing (if you wear makeup or sunscreen during the day) and then moisturzing after. The girls LOVED it. (No this is not sponsored, just wanted to tell y’all about it since I love this kind of shiz and all the girls were such fans using it for a few days.)

So bedside may or may have not looked like this by the time I went to bed…. Candyholic over here. Damn. I blame Kerrie. (The other blondie in all these pics and BF. She kept bringing me candy knowing I couldn’t say no!!!)

SO NEXT DAY. Wake up with your girls, shower if you want. Make a bomb ass breakfast. These cabins have all the cooking appliances you need.

Then go off on a day of exploring! Just keep going on Highway 1. First stop? HENRY MILLER’S LIBRARY! This place is awesome. They even have concerts here! Grab a book, learn some history… enjoy the beautiful grounds it’s on. Get some “donation only” coffee. (It’s good coffee too!) They even have a piano in there.

Second stop? Park your car along the highway at Partington Cove. It’s an EASY short hike down to the ocean and it’s BEAUTIFUL.

We even saw some otters! And a few whales in the distance!

See? Easy hike. On the way back there is even a little side trail you can go on. You’ll see it- a little bridge. It doesn’t go far but leads you close to a river enveloped in all these lush ass trees. GORGEOUS.

It was our friend Karishma’s FIRST TIME CAMPING. Wild right?!

Then get your butts back in the car and drive 5ish minutes down to Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. This place is UNREAL. You’ll see signs on the backstory of this place… it’s rooted in female friendship, so truly a cool place to experience together with your friends!

Then, before it gets dark… get back to CAMP! We went back to Fernwood to set up our tent. Their campgrounds are SO COOL- right along the river!!

Get the drinks out, the smore’s… it’s camping time baby!!

Look at our faces. We wild! (Mindy’s lingo. Stealing.)

OH. At Fernwood, there’s a bathroom super close too. Which is nice. P.S: Highly recommend getting a headlight. They are CLUTCH when waking up at 2am having to pee. Just saying. (Also bring a stun gun with you ladies! You never know!! Ain’t no bad person going to Jeff with you with that thing.)

That night we went out to Fernwood’s bar and grill and a few drinks and played some ping pong- it was a blast! They had a live band too.

Next morning we woke up and went to our FAVORITE Big Sur Bakery…. Big Sur Bakery & Restaurant. Best coffee and pastries!! Coolest, nicest people work there as well. Super helpful for recommendations of places to go. You can load up for gas there too.

Such a fun trip!!! Any Big Sur tips and recommendations for our readers? Leave it below! Any Q’s about this trip feel free to?comment or email me! Katey@VioletFog.com